Many people forget that even the most senior among us can benefit from mentoring. Often mentors in high positions are assumed to be too knowledgable to need another mentor. However, even these individuals can often benefit from a mentor during a change in career focus or professional path.

Curiosity is a characteristic of many successful mentors and mentees. Curious individuals proactively seek solutions to problems that they don't know the answer to. They also tend to be more motivated to find ways to improve their mentoring performance (e.g. research best practices, ask for advice from superiors).

Setting goals is an important step in a mentoring relationship, but following through with those aims is even more crucial. Frequent "check ups" and meetings can help. By agreeing to be accountable to his or her mentor, a protégé can become more motivated to accomplish tasks.

Mother's Day, which occurs this Sunday, helps remind us of the amazing bond between mother and child. Like mothering, mentorship also relies on a relatioship between two individuals in order to be successful. In the spirit of the holiday, here are a number of characteristics of mothering that can be applied to the mentoring.

Mentoring, although rewarding, requires dedication and hard work. Corporations can reward mentors through promotion or mentoring retreats. Academic institutions can hold dinners for their mentors, or provide them with extra conference funding. Making mentors feel wanted is important to the success of any mentoring program, and encourages mentors to continue their work long into the future.